Fighting Through WWII Stories & History

Paul Cheall started this podcast because of his father Bill, a WWII veteran who fought from Dunkirk to Hamburg and wrote a memoir about it. That personal connection runs through every episode, and you can hear it in the care Paul takes with each story. The show started back in 2013, making it one of the longer-running WWII podcasts out there, with 126 episodes covering Dunkirk, D-Day, North Africa, Sicily, the Italian campaign, bomber crews, POW experiences, and home front stories. The format mixes memoir readings — including a serialized version of Bill Cheall's own book starting around episode 107 — with interviews of veterans and their families from Britain, the US, Australia, and Canada. Paul has no editorial restrictions on whose story gets told: men, women, children, any nationality, any branch of service. Episodes release monthly, so each one feels considered rather than rushed. The production is modest — this is clearly a labor of love rather than a big-budget operation — but that actually suits the intimate, personal nature of the content. The D-Day coverage benefits from Paul's deep knowledge of the British experience at Normandy, which often gets overshadowed by American accounts in other podcasts. With a 4.7-star rating and over 500 five-star reviews across platforms, the audience clearly appreciates the authenticity. If you want WWII stories told with genuine family connection and heart, Paul Cheall delivers.